ovid Flashcards
why was ovid exiled?
because of a carmen and an error. carmen = ars amatoria and error = a scandal with imperial family
what lines primarily focus on the theme of love being like a war?
the first and last lines in book three
list some ideas of who the audience is and why they’re
- married women (comitting adultery problematic)
- younger girls (corrupting youth)
- prostitutes (degraded piece of literature)
- slaves (unnecessary and unrealistic kindness)
- freed women (all appy)
name the good and bad mythological women Ovid lists in part one
bad: helen, clytemenestra, rriphyle
good: penelope, laodameia, alcestis, evadne
how does Ovid do bathos in part one
he builds it up by listing all the mythological examples and then says never mind ‘yet their aims are not required for my art’
how can ovid compare to the odyssey in part one?
venus orders Ovid to create this book as if she is the muse ‘Venus herself and ordered me to teach you’. Elevates his work
how does Ovid use a tricolon to describe horrors of aging in part one?
sagging flesh wrinkles
colour is lost from the bright cheek
hairs that you’ll swear were grey from your girlhood
what two animals do Ovid compare to show that humans age ungracefully in part one?
‘snakes shed their old age with fragile skin, antlers that are cast make the stag seem young’
what is the main message of part two?
contrast between contemporary and ancient Rome implies girls should be more civilised
what sites in Rome are mentioned in part 2?
‘look what the Capitol is now’
‘the Senate house now worhy of such debates’
‘where the Palatine now gleams with Apollo and our leaders’
how does Ovid use a priamel in part two?
he contrasts what others may admire with what he admires
what does Ovid compare the three hairstyles to in part three?
laodamia (small knot on top), Phoebus (throw hair over shoulders), Diana (tied up)
how does Ovid use humour in part three to show baldness(similie)
‘our hair snatched at by time, falls like the leaves stripped by the north wind’
what mythological women does Ovid use in part three to describe what dresses suit people?
dark grey suited white Briseis, Andromeda in white
in part 4 what 4 examples of art that started out ugly is used?
‘signature of busy Myron was once dumb mass, hard stone’
‘to make a ring first crush the golden ore’
‘the dress you wear was greasy wool’
‘rough marble now it forms a famous statue’
how does Ovid sexualise Venus in part 4?
‘naked Venus squeezing water from her wet hair’
what sailing metaphor does Ovid use in part 5?
the sailor rests secure when the sea’s calm; when it’s swollen he uses every aid (refers to calm sea beauty and swollen sea ugliness that needs makeup)
in part 5 how does Ovid give his advice to physical faults?
‘let an ugly foot be hidden in snow white leather’
‘make sparing use of gestures’
‘strong breath don’t talk’
‘keep your mouth a distance from your lover’
how does Ovid describe teeth in a tricolon of hyperbolic descriptions to be humourous in part 6?
‘teeth are blackened, large or not in line’
what pos. way does Ovid describe laughter and then neg. ways in part 6?
pos: aquire beuaty, small dimple, soft and feminine
neg: guffawing, shakes with laughter, laughs stridently
who are Callimachus, Philetas and Anacreon listed in part 7?
Hellenistic poets who wrote love elegies (shows Ovid’s literary expertise)
how does ovid elevate himself in part 7?
Mentions virgil indirectly before
refers to his future self as ‘master’
mentions his works such as amroes, ars amartoria and the heroides
what semantic field of words does Ovid use to describe the love affairs gone wrong and the suffering that comes along with it in part 8?
‘anger enters, ugly mischief’
‘quarrels and fights and anxious pain’
‘outraged deities’
‘cheeks wet with tears’
how does love be compared to a game in part 8?
‘playing often brings on love’
‘in a game the naked heart’s exposed’
what activities does ovid list in part 9 to contrast the female’s game of manipulation?
‘swift ball’
‘javelin
‘hoop’
‘swim’
how does ovid subvert expectations in part 9 of girls being more active in a relationship? (3 examples)
‘lovely girls, the crowd is useful to you’
‘ the wolf shadows many sheep to snatch just one’
‘jupiter’s eagle stoops on many birds’
What is ovid’s message from including Danae in part 9?
‘who’d known of Danae if she’d always be imprisoned and lay hidden an old woman in her tower’
how does Ovid target his male audience in part 9
lists places that only men can go to:
field of mars, aqua virgo, pompey’s porch
what mythological beasts does Ovid use to compare women’s heavely voices to in part 7?
‘the sirens were sea monsters’
‘Ulysses, your body nearly melted hearing them’
how does Ovid oppose the ideals of marriage in part 9?
‘often a lover’s found at a husband’s funeral: walking with loosend hair and unchecked weeping suits you’
what descriptions does ovid use to describe the trickery of men in part 10?
‘some will attack you with a lying pretence of love’
‘among them all’s a thief and burns with love of your finery’
how does ovid justify writing letters to other lovers in book 11?
‘countering fraud with fraud’s allowed, the law lets arms be wielded against arms’
which two mythological characters do Ovid use as stereotypes of misery in part 12?
tecmessa (ajax killed her father anf took her as his concubine) and andromache (Hector’s wife)
how does Ovid throw a veiled insult at augustus in part 12?
‘why should we be afraid of the leader’s name’
what analogy does Ovid try and empower women in relationships in part 13?
no rider rules a horse that’s lately known the reins’
what yonic imagery does Ovid frequently use to represent?
a door or an opening
what tricks do Ovid advise to make the husbands anxious in part 14?
‘stir him with a dismal watchman’
‘show signs of fear on your face’
‘a clever maid should leap up and and cry we’re lost’
how does Ovid invert roman comedies in part 14?
calls the husband ‘irksome’ which is normall what the woman is called
uses stock scene in roman mimes ‘you hide the trembling youth in any hole’
